The payouts The following administrators retired from the Pittsburgh Public Schools June 30 under an incentive program. Payouts consist of a $55,000 incentive, plus the usual compensation administrators receive for unused leave and vacation time. Payouts will occur in monthly installments over five years. Henrietta Abraham, principal, Prospect Middle School, 37 years of service, $89,354 Donus Crawford Jr., principal, Bon Air Elementary, 34.5, $135,382 Lawrence Davis, principal, Pittsburgh Gifted Center, 36, $151,741 Margaret Dudash, principal, Linden Academy, 38, $74,081 Normandie Fulson, assistant principal, Carmalt Academy of Science and Technology, 39.9, $133,286 Patricia Gallagher, assistant principal, Schiller Classical Academy, 38.6, $133,970 Vera Garmon, lead principal, chief academic office, 35, $122,192 John A. Groetsch, assistant principal, Schenley High School, 28.6, $122,450 Mary Beth Herzberger, principal, Allegheny Traditional Academy, 33, $96,598 Carol Heyward, principal, Friendship Academy of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, 33, $128,177 Mary Ann Hobson, principal, Morningside Elementary, 35.5, $66,304 Luke S. Holzen, lead principal, academic office, 36, $152,516 Brent Johnson, principal, Greenfield Elementary, 36.3, $127,438 Robert F. O'Keefe, principal, Dilworth Traditional Academy, 33, $129,333 Julius Redd, assistant principal, McNaugher Education Center, 39.8, $117,646 Cassandra Richardson Kemp, principal, Allderdice High School, 31.6, $110,746 Margaret Seifert, assistant principal, Langley High School, 34, $127,977 Dale Spiker, assistant principal, Oliver High School, 33.8, $124,745 Micheline Stabile, special education specialist, program for students with exceptionalities, 35, $132,116 Michael T. Thorsen, principal, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, 35.3, $113,048 Judy Weinberg, technology specialist, instructional support office, 34, $127,110 Vivian Wilson, principal, Weil Technology Institute, 34.2, $90,699 Source: Pittsburgh Public Schools

The Pittsburgh Public Schools will pay $2.6 million over five years to 22 administrators who signed up for a special retirement program designed to minimize the pain of the district's school-closing plan.

The administrators -- principals, assistant principals and curriculum specialists who retired June 30 -- each will receive $55,000 in incentive pay. On top of that, they'll get the usual compensation for unused leave and sick days.

The payouts range from $66,304 for Mary Ann Hobson, principal of Morningside Elementary School, to $152,516 for Luke S. Holzen, lead principal in the district's chief academic office, according to the school district.

The two had been with the district for 35.5 years and 36 years, respectively. Normandie Fulson, assistant principal at Carmalt Academy of Science and Technology in Overbrook, had the longest tenure, nearly 40 years.

With the retirements, the district "lost some excellent individuals," said Rick Sternberg, principal of Grandview Elementary in Allentown and president of the Pittsburgh Administrators Association.

"They had a world of experience. ... They will be sorely missed, but for many of them, the time is now," he said.

The retirees will miss the implementation of Superintendent Mark Roosevelt's initiatives to repair the district's academic and financial problems.

Their salaries ranged from $82,801 to $100,291. Four were principals at schools Mr. Roosevelt closed June 14, and five worked at schools that received the highest marks last year in a Rand Corp. analysis of achievement data.

The payouts will be made in monthly installments over five years.

The district would have had to pay the 22 for unused leave and sick time -- an amount based on each one's salary -- whenever they retired. Mr. Sternberg said the incentive, costing the district $1.2 million, attracted enough retirements at one time to limit the number of displacements caused by the closing of 22 schools.

Three administrators have been reassigned to lesser-paying positions -- from principal to assistant principal -- because of the downsizing. Without the 22 retirements, more would have been affected, and some may have been returned to teaching positions, Mr. Sternberg said.

He said the district needed at least 20 to retire to make the program financially viable. For a time, the list hovered at 19, and Mr. Sternberg said he would have signed up if it had been necessary to push the program through.

The district did not offer the incentive to upper-level administrators at the central office, who are also affected by a reorganization. Five retired anyway. Three others were bumped out of administration and offered teaching or academic coaching positions in schools.